Charging Your AR-15 From The Side – Is It Worth $150?

People often complain about the AR-15’s charging handle.

It seems to be relying heavily on the Magpul BAD lever he’s got on there. The only thing this basically does is let you use the side charing handle to get that initial round in the chamber from a closed bolt, or clear any easy jams from the side if that’s what you’re into.

Unfortunately it also still doesn’t solve the problem the AR has of gas blowing back into your face. I know a few companies make gas buster charging handles to solve that… he should incorporate that into his side charger to give it a bit more value.

I’m not sure why I had to do some intense googling in order to find out where you guys can buy this thing or how much it is. A simple URL in the YouTube description or video would have done the trick. Anyway Gunfighter Gear is the place and the price is $150.

Mike,
Not all receivers or charging handles leak gas, it seems the more broke in or worn they get the more likely they are to leak gas at you. (Also doesn’t help to use hot loads..)

In the High-power competition world we often use a small amount of Black RTV silicone on your charging handle where it meets the receiver and it will seal off the gases. You only need a really small amount to create a seal and stop those gasses from exiting back through the charging handle. Yes eventually it will wear down and will need replacement, but it doesn’t require a special “shielded” charging handle.

The secret is a gas-absorbing beard, operators has know this for years since they found ancient text from Nordic vikings describing how they used beards as a damagedeflector when they was out and about doing raids to pillage and plunder – true story!

Not sure how old this post is but I’m reading up on the side charger just for kick and giggles. Anyway, ENDO-Mike, you might consider looking at the key on your BCG. There is a sealant (at least if it is a quality BCG) on there that can wear off over enough rounds or enough wear. My brother and I own a BCG company (www.gdef.co) and that is one of the things we make sure we have on every one of our BCGs because without it, it leaks gas between the carrier and the key which lowers the efficiency as well as exposed more gas in the general area of the shooters face.

This guy clearly has a lot of “battlefield” experience for which he designed this clearly “battlefield” tested accessory to get you back in the “fight” faster and “beat the opposition”.

I get that the guy wants to come across as a professional, but he sounds like a total tool.

The fact that near the end of the video he’s dropping the bolt with the BAD lever but insists on doing an awkward little “pull the side-charge handle back, hoooooold it, pop your finger off, look for the button, hoooold it, ok let go!” move. Yeah, that looks operator as shit. Riiiight.

Not overly sold on spending $150 for a solution looking for a problem! To me the BAD or even a standard charging handle is just fine, and I can single hand charge/clear/load just fine with them. To me though that side charging handle would be just one more thing to get caught on shit as your moving around.

However I am sure there are enough gear-whores out there who will love these that the guy will make a decent amount of money.

It already cycles from the left hand, without taking your aim off target or changing your grip. That’s the point of the design. If you want to eliminate gas blowback then get a piston system. They make them just as accurate as gas now from Stag Arms and Adams Arms.

I’ve been shooting with my original ‘slab side’ AR since 1975 (original Colt). I’ve lost count how many thousands of rounds has gone down range in competition and ‘pinking’ and no gas blowback through the charging handle and, yes, it is the original The gas issue could be from out of spec. handles or uppers. Yea, I know: ” So and so’s uppers are 100% in spec…yada-yada-yada.” I’ve lost count of the number I’ve built from a stack of parts and when a mic. is put to the critical parts made today I can find most out of spec. But these are built within certain prescribed tolerances of = or – values, which isn’t an issue Its when someone figures that a .001 here or there won’t hurt is when trouble begins. As someone said earlier about a “fix looking for a problem” hit the nail on the head. If I am in combat I am not going to screw around with something remotely clumsy, but the ‘T’ handle works and is proven in combat over and over to do the job. Is it the best solution, nope. But it is proven reliable. If you want to see what the AR series rifles were originally desiged to b e charged, look up the history. Eugene Stoner had to change the design because of the political military brass. As for a true side charging weapon, I’ll take my FN-FAL in 7.62 NATO as my battle rifle, which is side charging and piston actuated if I can get to it over just about any other battle rifle. JMHO…YMMV